Is there a reason psychologists never ask to see pictures of your family to glea

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   Billie Kelpinposted 8 years ago

   Is there a reason psychologists never ask to see pictures of your family to glean more information?
   
   Not an earth-shaking question here.  I just was curious why no counselor or psychologist has ever asked to see pictures of the people in my past life or even my present life in order to get a visual picture that would piece together some of the puzzles presented to them. If I look at a picture of my father as a boy, it's clear to me that his tendency for depression happened VERY early on.  If I look at pictures of my little family that dissolved, I have no clue as to why, and I often wonder if a psychologist would. Wouldn't pictures help psychologists get a "clearer" picture?  Just curious.
   
   

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   Brynn Thorssenposted 8 years ago

   I'm not a psychologist .... but remember when you used to see articles about how the body language of celebrities meant their relationship was deteriorating and they were on a runaway train bound for divorce?  I noticed that there are few articles about this any more.
   
   Photographs show one or two seconds in time.  Knowing your father, you look at this photo and assume that his depression started at an early age.  I look at the photo and see a young boy that maybe had a bad day, maybe he was being abused, maybe someone had recently died, maybe his dog just ran away.  It doesn't necessarily mean it is a mental health issue, which would make a photograph an unreliable tool.

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      Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think you are right. Photographs display a second of your life. It may not aid in studying the mental conditions or life history of a person unless it was shot in some extreme conditions.

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      Billie Kelpinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Carrie, I DO remember when articles abt. body language were popular.   You're exactly right. Pictures w/o context can be deceiving. Both my father's father and his mother had died at the time this picture was taken and the 5 siblings were separated.

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   Venkatachari Mposted 8 years ago

   Photographs can not reveal the state of mind of a person. They are only images of appearances and only for one particular moment of your life. On the other hand, psychologists try to communicate with people around you in your family for studying your behaviour and to know the impact of their influences or any other incidents of life on your behaviour. that is how they study and diagnose the disease. In that process, they may sometimes look at your family albums which if,  portray many moments of your life in those images.

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      Billie Kelpinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Venkatachari M.  I was thinking that "Gee, I think I should give my counselor a list of the cast of characters w/ pictures to keep it all straight   I don't know how you all manage to do it each hour for all of us, but we're GRATEFUL!!!

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      Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You are welcome, Billie Kelpin. It's nothing but brotherhood and humanity.

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   MizBejabbersposted 8 years ago

   I agree with the other answers. If you look at a picture of my father when he was a young adult, you see a smiling happy man. It gives no indication of his alcoholism or the fact that it runs in my family. Thankfully, it skipped over my siblings and me, but I have a couple of cousins who weren't so lucky.

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      Billie Kelpinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      MizBejabbers, Thank you for your response.  Alcoholism creates a whole family dynamic, doesn't it.  Either it "skipped over" you and your siblings or perhaps you made some conscious decisions to overtake the disease - if that's possible.

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   brakel2posted 8 years ago

   i have shown a psychologist pictures of my family, but he never requested them. i agree that photos do not present a vision of depression or other emotional problems. Many people who laugh on the outside are hurting on the inside. A brief look at someone can tell very little. It would be nice if photos could tell stories and help psychologists. I even showed my psychologist a photo of my grandson and dog, as I thought he might like to see them. I love my family, and that was the real reason. .

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      Billie Kelpinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That seems to be the concensus here Audrey.  I would imagine, though, that the picture of your grandson and dog made the psychologist smile and gave him or her a nice frame of reference   Cheers, Billie

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